There is something extra enticing about hot-off-the-presses, newly-published books. After waiting for weeks or months {or sometimes years}, knowing a book you want to read is coming, then finally being able to pick it up for yourself. Glorious. It’s easy to get blinded by “new book sparkle” and forget about all the books that are already out and ready to read – especially if you didn’t quite manage to read all the new books when they were, well, new.

Today, I’m going to highlight a selection of holiday (not just Christmas!) books I’ve read over the past several years, including one-line reviews. In selecting the titles below, I did try to get an assortment of stories, so hopefully there’s something for everyone.

• A Cat Cafe Christmas | Codi Gary | 2022| 🎄🎄🎄🎄
  The chapter headers featuring adoptable cat “bio blocks” were perfect, and it’s just a fun and sweet feel-good Christmas story.
• Meet Me Under the Mistletoe | Jenny Bayliss | 2022 | 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄
  Huzzah for secondhand booksellers who love old books AND gardens/plants!
• The Santa Suit | Mary Kay Andrews | 2022 | 🎄🎄🎄🎄
  This is the kind of cute, frothy, slight-tinge-of-mystery, heaping dose of Christmas magic the world needs more of.
• The Christmas Dress | Courtney Cole | 2021 | 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄
  This. Was. Magic. Totally my catnip. It’s a Christmas story, but it’s also so much more.
• Dashing Through the Snow | Debbie Macomber | 2015 | 🎄🎄🎄🎄
  Cute and frothy, the perfect rom-com read to kick off the holiday season. And there’s a puppy! {This one really is a Hallmark movie}.
• The Twelve Dates of Christmas | Jenny Bayliss | 2020 | 🎄🎄🎄🎄
  I loved the premise, the execution was fun {12 chapters = the Twelve Dates of Christmas}, and I adored the small-town atmosphere.
• The Matzah Ball | Jean Meltzer | 2021 | 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄
  I love Rachel’s secret struggle with loving Christmas, and the whole premise and reading experience was just fun.

• Blame it on the Mistletoe | Beth Garrod | 2020 | 🎄🎄🎄🎄
  A wild and crazy holiday swap {think The Holiday but YA and a lot of social media} that somehow really works.
• Talk Santa to Me | Linda Urban | 2022 | 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄
  This is not your run of the mill Santa story – it’s really about the Santa magic that makes a kid feel seen and loved.
• Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares | David Levithan & Rachel Cohn | 2010 | 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄
  It’s an improv story of sorts: neither Dash nor Lily has any idea where it’s going – it’s just one mysterious clue, challenge, dare in the notebook after another. Until … it’s not anymore.
• My True Love Gave to Me | Various Authors | 2014 | 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄
  Twelve holiday-themed short stories {all the winter holidays}, with so many flavors.
• New Year’s Kiss | Lee Matthews | 2020 | 🎄🎄🎄
  Cheesy and fun with a “year end bucket list” to make things even more interesting.

• The Christmas Murder Game | Alexandra Benedict | 2021 | 🎄🎄🎄🎄
  Solid mystery and an intriguing concept – layered mysteries and so many secrets. 
• A Murder at Balmoral | Chris McGeorge | 2022 | 🎄🎄🎄🎄
  A locked-room murder + an alternate-history England {if Edward VIII had not abdicated to marry Wallis} + so much royal family drama and secrets!
• Home for Christmas | Courtney Cole | 2022 | 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄
  A fantastically orchestrated time-slip story of finding yourself and finding home by going back to the beginning.
• In a Holidaze | Christina Lauren | 2020 | 🎄🎄🎄🎄
  I’ve never seen “Groundhog Day” but I know the premise, and I wasn’t entirely sure how this would work, but it quickly drew me in and was a quirky, bizarre, and fun read.

• The Christmas Bookshop | Jenny Colgan | 2021 |  🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄
  It’s a Christmas story, but it’s also a sister story – a book lover’s story – a find my way and coming of age story – an auntie story – a natural feeling romance story … it’s all the stories.
• Mr Dickens and His Carol | Samantha Silva | 2017 | 🎄🎄🎄🎄
  An enjoyable romp through the writing of A Christmas Carol, as Dickens became his own Scrooge, and had his own journey back to the heart of Christmas.
• Christmas by the Book | Anne Marie Ryan | 2021 | 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄
  It’s a Christmas magic story, but it’s also such a loving tribute to books – the power of books, of stories, to help us heal – to help us connect – to help us grow.

Have a favorite that didn’t make this list? Share it in the comments below! There’s no such thing as too many Christmas/holiday/festive books in my world.

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